Player of the Game
Yan Gomes locked up today’s Player of the Game in his first at bat, but he didn’t stop there (final WPA .178). In that first plate appearance, Gomes knocked in a run with a single, then scored himself on an error. In his second, he hit a three run home run and in his fourth, he knocked in his fifth run of the game with a double that pushed the Indians up 9-1. After his third hit, Gomes scored on a Rajai Davis double for his third run of the game. This is Gomes’ first Player of the Game since winning Opening Day and with it, he joins six other Indians with a team high two.
Feathers Up
The Indians put together a fine inning in the first today, giving Corey Kluber a three run cushion, the same they had scored in total in his first three starts. Jason Kipnis started things off with a solid single, then Francisco Lindor walked in his first at bat for the second game in a row. Also just like yesterday, Mike Napoli struck out, but Yan Gomes turned his fortunes around with a bloop single to score Kipnis. Jose Ramirez singled on the ground up the middle as well to score Lindor for the second run, then stole second. On the steal, Jarrod Saltalamacchia threw the ball into right center, allowing Ramirez to go to third and Gomes to score the third run of the inning.
The Indians added on in the third when Lindor singled, took advantage of Saltalamacchia by stealing second and went to third on a Napoli hit. Gomes then brought everyone home with a three run home run to left off Anibal Sanchez giving him four RBI on the day. With the bases now empty, Lonnie Chisenhall hit a triple, his second hit of the year, then scored on an opposite field Rajai Davis single. Davis was picked off first, but immediately after, Tyler Naquin hit his first career double and Carlos Santana hit his 171st career double to knock him in. Jason Kipnis then walked before Lindor ended the inning with a pop out. The five runs in the inning were more than they scored in 8 of their first 14 games and the eight runs by the third were their most total in any single game this year.
Having been given this fine cushion of runs, Kluber did what he does every time out, throw strikes. He worked quickly and in the zone and it resulted in ten strike outs and just a single run allowed on a Saltalamacchia home run in the fifth. He pitched eight innings, allowing the bullpen some extra rest after their extended use the past two games.
Feathers Down
The Indians didn’t “save any runs for next time.” Since baseball doesn’t work like that, though, there were no real negative takeaways from today’s game as the Tribe played excellent defense (particularly a couple plays from Lindor), hit better than they have all year and pitched nearly as well to get one game above .500.
Final Score: Cleveland Indians – Detroit Tigers
On Deck: The Indians and Tigers will wrap up their first series of the season with another 1:05 PM start time on Sunday. Carlos Carrasco will go for the Tribe against Shane Greene who was a disappointment in his first season in Detroit (6.88 ERA, 5.14 FIP in 83.2 IP) and hasn’t been any better so far this year with a 7.15 ERA in 11.1 innings.
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